Advent 2023: The Unending Kingdom
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Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Intro
Intro
Big Idea: Christmas means the end is near for the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of Christ has dawned and its full brightness of day is near.
Truth
Truth
Today we will explore four important observations about Christ which are reasons why Christmas is so powerful in our lives. Because Christ has come, lived, died, risen, ascended, and is coming again, nothing will ever be the same for our world and darkness can never be quite as dark as it once was.
Four observations about Christ from today’s text...
I. His origin is from eternity
I. His origin is from eternity
Because the Eternal One who created all things has come into the world darkened by sin, thus shining His light into every dark place, the days of the kingdom of darkness are numbered.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God.
Many babes have been born into this world and some of them were kings, but only one has been born the King of kings.
Recalling last week, John the Baptist proclaimed that He is the Light which has come into the world (John 1).
John also declared that He is the creator of all things who has now entered into His creation (John 1).
His title, Son of God, means the He is literally God in the flesh.
In Jewish culture, they would have clearly understood that Jesus’ title made Him equal with the Father. All that a father had then belonged to a first born son. By labeling Christ as God’s Son, the angel was making a very clear and decisive point about who Christ truly was.
Christ is the possessor of everything the Father has from His character, to His nature, to His power, to His resources. He is God in every way.
His conception was a direct miracle of God the Father implanting the very person who is God the Son into Mary’s womb by a direct act of the Holy Spirit.
At no other time in history has a miracle like this occurred. God has made plenty of men, but only once did He make Himself into a man.
II. His name means we are delivered
II. His name means we are delivered
Because God Himself has come to give His life to defeat sin and death, many are being delivered from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.
In fact, since His coming Christ has been joyously receiving multitudes of immigrants from that wicked kingdom daily. This spells doom for them, but life for us who are being saved. They have nowhere to go but down and we have nowhere to go but up.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
God named Him Jesus which means “The Lord Saves.”
With His very name God the Father clearly stated His intentions for why He placed God the Son into our world.
As John proclaimed, He is the Light who enlightens everyone and grants all who believe in His name the right to leave the darkness of sin behind and become children of God (John 1:9-12).
His saving power is active now until He one day returns to judge the world and usher in the fullness of His kingdom.
"The moment we transfer our trust in good works to what Jesus did for us on the cross, a wonderful transaction takes place: our sins are removed and Christ's righteousness comes in. The righteousness is "credited" to us (Rom. 4:5). All that Jesus did in His life (keeping the law for us) and in His death (satisfying God's justice for us) is put to our credit. Those who have this hope are those who will go to heaven and not to hell when they die." -Dr. R. T. Kendall (Pigeon Religion, pg. 91)
The world is full of sheep who are being lead to slaughter through sin and death, but Christ came as a lamb to die in our place that we might avoid the terrible ultimate consequences of sin.
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To fall on Him.
III. His throne means we are secure
III. His throne means we are secure
Because Christ is seated on His eternal throne and it is He who protects us, darkness has no power to win us back over.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
Christ’s throne is tied to God’s promise to David that one of His descendants would rule forever, and God always keeps His promises.
God knew that the only way a descendent of David could possibly rule forever was if God Himself merged His line with the Davidic line.
If we are in Christ, we can know for certain that we are citizens of a kingdom which won’t ever fail like earthly kingdoms do.
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
We can have great confidence because our wellbeing is tied to a King who will never falter, die, or be defeated.
Therefore He is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
For this is what the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, says:
“I dwell in a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.
and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
IV. His house is a house of faith (33)
IV. His house is a house of faith (33)
Because Christ has come to us, all who come to Him by faith can become full citizens of His kingdom.
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
To be a member of Jacob's house is to repent and believe in Christ by faith.
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your Descendants shall be named.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Therefore, recognize that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Gospel Application
Gospel Application
Who is God? Christ is the Eternal One who created all things and was born into the world as one of us to shine His light into every dark place; especially into us.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel.
What has God done? Christ Himself has defeated sin and death through His coming, living, dying, rising, and ascending to His throne. His Kingdom is permanent and will never fail. He has cast His light out into the world and thus into many of us.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.
But regarding the Son He says,
“Your throne, God, is forever and ever,
And the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom.
Who are we? We are those who are have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light by this Christ who has come into our world. We are citizens forever in His eternal kingdom.
What is our proper response? We are to live as people of light in Him, rejecting the ways of darkness, and living daily full of His Spirit to anticipate His coming again with the fullness of His Kingdom.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
For this reason you must be ready as well; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves.
Challenge
Challenge
Our challenge is to do whatever it takes to get our eyes trained on the Eternal Son of God who was born as a baby in a humble stable, placed in a manger, and lived a perfect and humble life in our place.
We cannot walk in this new identity we have in Christ so long as we continue to obsess elsewhere.
Have you trusted Christ with your salvation? Well friend, have you also trusted Him with your every day and every hour? Many Christians live in a state of perpetual Spiritual atrophy simply because they believe that Christ is big enough to take their lives in His hands, but they don’t live as if he cares enough to take their moments into His hands. He does and He has sent us His Spirit to make sure that His presence and power are always near us.
Let us train our hearts and minds onto Christ, trusting that He is with us. We seek Him through prayer, through daily time in His word, through commitment to one another in Church life, and by yielding to the Holy Spirit in our lives rather than trying to do it all alone.
By the Spirit, we can live as if the Eternal Kingdom in Christ is already here and is flourishing within us. That is the power of Christmas because a God who seemed distant to many is not right among us and in fact within those of us who have trusted in Him. Immanuel could not get any closer than He is right now.
May we walk in His grace.